I love it when I come across a recipe that I can throw together in a few minutes, using pretty much whatever I happen to have on hand.  Don’t you?

Well, this is one of those recipes.  Meet my Fiesta Chicken Pockets – quick and easy!

( By the way, I fully realize and acknowledge that I will never have a career as a food stylist – my apologies. )

When I ran across Jenna’s chicken rollups on Pinterest I was inspired to make my own version – and the best part is that you could adapt this recipe to fit what’s in your fridge or pantry.  It doesn’t get any easier than that!

If you want to make this version, here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients:

• 1-2 packages crescent rolls (How many you’ll need depends on how full you fill the pockets.  Also, I used reduced fat crescent rolls.)
• 1 box cream cheese, softened in the microwave (I used reduced fat.)
• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (my hubby bakes a bunch of these a couple times a week, so great to have on hand)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon fiesta ranch dip mix
• salt and pepper to taste (if you use the dip mix I would lay off the salt)
• Optional – small can diced green chilis (not pictured)
• Optional – sour cream and/or salsa for topping (not pictured)

Directions:

Step 1 – mix everything together in a large bowl, except for the crescent rolls (Captain Obvious here).

Step 2 – Lay out your crescent rolls on a baking sheet and fill with about 2 large spoonfuls of the chicken mixture.  Be sure not to fill them too full, you need to be able to fully seal up all the edges.  (By the way, my rolls got wonky coming out of the package so I had to roll them out and cut new pieces, so please forgive me for the crazy appearance of my rolls.)  Note – I had a lot of chicken mixture left over – I’m not sure if that’s because I didn’t make enough rolls when I rolled out my dough, or if I simply needed another package of crescent rolls.  So here’s your warning – you may have extra chicken mixture.  I’m thinking I’ll make these with my leftovers (I’ve made them before and they’re yummy!).

Step 3 – Pull the edges of the crescent rolls over the chicken mixture and pinch shut.

Step 4 – Cook the chicken pockets according to the instructions on the crescent roll package.

Step 5 – Top with sour cream or salsa, or eat them as they are.  Enjoy!!

The moral of this story is that just about anything will taste great if you bake it in a crescent roll.  I made these a few weeks ago for a brunch with my girlfriends and they were a hit, and I’m thinking it would also be yummy to try chicken with apricot jam (maybe?) for a sweet dish or chicken, cheese and broccoli for a quick dinner.  Do you have any crescent roll recipes we need to try?  Let us know!

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